Nobody can remember when the piercing, spooky whine of a 350bhp Mercedes-Benz W25 supercharger was last heard. However, anyone at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, when one was in full cry after decades of silence, will surely never forget that sound.

It was driven twice by Brawn GP's Jenson Button, providing a distinctly novel experience for the current F1 World Championship leader.

Jenson enjoyed himself despite never having experienced any kind of vintage machine before, let alone this 1934 Grand Prix single-seater with "crash" gearbox, no differential, drum brakes, skinny tyres and that supercharged straight-eight which runs on methanol, smells of marzipan and is somewhat tricky to use. The fact that the throttle pedal is on the left of the brake is not the only problem.

Restored last winter by the factory's Classic department, this is the actual Mercedes-Benz which Manfred von Brauchitsch took to victory in the 1934 Eifelrennen race, when that whine echoed memorably around the mountainous Nürburging for the first time. It was the first of the legendary "Silver Arrows" Grand Prix cars.

Mercedes-Benz brought a mighty fleet to Goodwood, including two even more powerful GP models from 1937 and 1939. I had the immense privilege of driving all three up Goodwood's hillclimb, along with Jochen Mass, while Jenson took the wheel of the W25 on the Sunday.

Sitting bolt upright in these cockpits, getting that strange whiff of methanol, you surge away with wheels spinning. The W25, dominant in 1934, was obsolete by 1936, outpaced by rival Auto Union. Mercedes-Benz fought back effectively. These Silver Arrows may look similar but don't be deceived: technology leapt forward dramatically from 1934 to 1939.

People asked me whether I advised Jenson on driving the W25. Well, I did suggest that the central throttle would be no problem on the hill but he might kill a few people in the paddock if he relaxed afterwards. He had no such trouble.